A look at Walz’s progressive policies as Minnesota’s governor
(CNN) — Where the Biden administration has struggled, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has succeeded.
The former schoolteacher turned politician whom Vice President Kamala Harris picked as her running mate in the 2024 presidential race has been able to enact many of the progressive policies President Joe Biden and Harris pitched but failed to get through Congress.
Aided by a Democratic sweep of the state legislature, Walz last year signed a landmark budget that established a generous child tax credit, created a paid family and medical leave program and made college tuition free for certain students, among other measures.
“We’re pretty sure it’s going to mean a fairer, more inclusive, better and more prosperous Minnesota,” he said upon signing the budget.
The One Minnesota Budget built upon the left-leaning policies that Walz established in the state, including protecting abortion rights and gender-affirming care, investing in affordable housing and instituting clean energy measures.
Republicans, however, have critiqued Walz’s efforts, which entail an increase in state spending, as unsustainable and as increasing the burden on families and businesses.
Also, Minnesota was one of the few states to raise taxes in recent years, even though it had large surpluses, the Tax Foundation said. The increases mainly affected businesses and high-earning residents.
Here are some of the progressive measures Walz has enacted as governor:
Child tax credit
Many lower-income Minnesota families can access a state child tax credit, which Walz signed into law last year. The credit, which provides up to $1,750 per kid with no limit on the number of children claimed, is the most generous in the US and is projected to lower child poverty by a third. It is also refundable so families can receive a refund even if they don’t owe any tax, though they do need to file a tax return to claim the credit.
The full credit is available to single parents earning $29,500 and couples earning $35,000, and slowly phases out depending on income, filing status and number of children.
More than 215,000 families, with more than 437,000 children, have claimed the credit so far for 2023, Walz said in a statement last week. The average credit was $1,244 per child – totaling more than $545 million.
Free college tuition
Last year, Walz signed a bill into law that made college tuition free for students from Minnesota families who earn less than $80,000 a year.
Between 15,000 and 20,000 students are expected to benefit during the upcoming school year, the first year the program is in effect.
Known as the North Star Promise Scholarship, the program covers the balance of tuition and fees remaining for students after applying other scholarships, grants and stipends that don’t have to be paid back. The idea is that students won’t have to borrow student loans to pay for tuition and mandatory fees to attend college.
Students who are eligible for a Pell grant, a federal financial aid award for low-income students, may receive additional funds from the state program.
Students must be enrolled at a public two- or four-year college in Minnesota to be eligible for the North Star Promise Scholarship. They are required to be Minnesota residents, but undocumented students who meet certain conditions are also eligible, like they are for other state financial aid awards.
Minnesota is now one of more than 30 states that offer some kind of free tuition program.
Abortion access
Walz has been an advocate for abortion access. In January 2023, he signed into law the Protect Reproductive Options Act, which established the right for people in the state to obtain an abortion after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade the previous year.
In April 2023, he signed a law protecting people who travel to Minnesota for abortions, and clinicians providing abortion care, from criminal penalties from other states.
Minnesota’s policies around abortion make it among the most protective states for abortion access, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that supports abortion rights, with more people expected to travel to the state for care after Iowa implemented a six-week ban in July.
When Harris became the first vice president believed to have visited an abortion clinic while in office, she chose a Planned Parenthood location in Minnesota.
Universal school meals
Students can receive free breakfast and lunch in participating schools after Walz signed a universal school meals bill into law last year, making it the fourth state to enact such a measure.
Nearly 4.3 million more breakfasts and 4.5 million more lunches were served to students last fall compared with the same period in 2022, Walz said in March.
“The data is clear: more students are eating breakfast and lunch at school, ensuring they have the food they need to succeed and helping families save money on their grocery bills,” Walz said in a statement. “This investment is a win for our kids, our families, and the long-term success of our state.”
The measure is expected to cost the state about $400 million over two years.
Gender-affirming care
In March 2023, Walz signed an executive order that directed Minnesota agencies to do whatever they could to protect and support Minnesotans seeking gender-affirming health care services.
Gender-affirming care is evidence-based care for people who identify as transgender or nonbinary. It’s been deemed medically necessary and has the backing of nearly every major medical association and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than half of states now have laws that restrict such care.
Walz’s executive order directed state agencies to study the effectiveness of the care and investigate any health organization that denied it. The order also prohibited Minnesota from cooperating in any investigation by a state that aimed to penalize such care, calling such actions “a grave threat” to the health of members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“We want every Minnesotan to grow up feeling safe, valued, protected, celebrated and free to exist as their authentic versions of themselves,” Walz said after signing the order.
The next month, he signed “trans refuge” legislation that safeguarded access to such care and another law that banned conversion therapy, a discredited practice that aims to change someone’s understanding of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
Paid family and medical leave
Saying paid family and medical leave is important for the health of the state’s workforce and future of its economy, Walz signed a bill establishing the program last year. It launches in 2026.
“Paid family and medical leave is about investing in the people that made our state and economy strong in the first place,” Walz said in a statement. “By signing paid family and medical leave into law, we’re ensuring Minnesotans no longer have to make the choice between a paycheck and taking time off to care for a new baby or a sick family member.”
Individuals will be able to take up to 12 weeks each of medical and family leave, for a combined maximum of 20 weeks in a 12-month period. How much workers will receive during their leave will depend on their pay.
Benefits are paid by the state but are funded through payroll deductions on wages.
Minnesota will be the 13th state to enact such a program.
Affordable housing investments
Walz was praised by housing and homeless advocates for signing a bill last year that provides the largest state investment in housing to date.
More than half of the $1 billion spending package is being used to expand the supply of affordable housing, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. The state funds will also provide $150 million in downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers, which will enable approximately 5,000 Minnesotans to purchase homes, as well as $45 million for a homeless prevention program.
“Whether it’s building new housing infrastructure, providing rental assistance, or ensuring homeownership is an option for all Minnesotans, this bill will have a historic impact on the quality of life in Minnesota and move us towards becoming the best state to raise a family,” Walz said in a statement released in 2023 after signing the bill.
The bill also raised the sales tax in the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area by 0.25% to create a permanent funding stream for Minnesota housing programs.
Clean energy policy
Walz oversaw a cutting-edge clean energy policy as governor of Minnesota. As part of a Democratic trifecta in the state House, Senate and governor’s office, Walz signed a law last year that aims to make 100% of Minnesota’s electricity clean by 2040.
The law compels utilities that provide electricity in Minnesota to switch from polluting sources of electricity like coal and natural gas to clean sources, including wind, solar, battery storage, hydropower and clean hydrogen.
Under the law, utilities need to switch to generating 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040 and get 80% of the way there by 2030. Minnesota’s largest utilities have voiced support for having to move quickly to zero-carbon energy but have also acknowledged the switch will be challenging.
And earlier this summer, Walz signed a separate bill to speed up energy permitting projects in Minnesota and get more clean energy onto the grid. Passing a similar bill at the federal level has been elusive in Congress.
Voting rights for ex-felons
Last year, Walz signed a bill into law that restored voting rights to more than 55,000 formerly incarcerated people in Minnesota.
Minnesota is now one of 23 states that automatically restores voting rights following incarceration of those who have been convicted of a felony, according to the Voting Rights Lab.
The passage of the bill followed several years of legal challenges to the constitutionality of the state’s former law, which prohibited people who were on felony supervision or probation from voting even if their prison term has been completed or they have never spent a day in prison.
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